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It just occurred to me yesterday that maybe I should keep track of the things that I am now interested in or busy about so that one day, when I look back and reminisce at how I was like decades ago, I’ll have a concrete and solid image more or less.

Let’s start with A, shall we?

1. Arcades and Amusement Parks– They remind me of how fun and carefree our childhood can be.

2. Blogging– My newly found friend!

3. College Admission Tests– More or less the highlight of any graduating high school student’s life right now

4. Dystopian fiction– It’s good to read haunting visions of the future once in a while.

5. EXO– I just can’t say enough. The Korean boy band that ruined my bias list!

6. French language– Fascinating!

7. George Alexander Louis, Prince of Cambridge– Probably the baby of the decade

8. The Hunger Games trilogy– May the odds be ever in your favor!

9. Infinitea– The first, last, and only milk tea place I’ve ever been to

10. Jeju Island– An island south of mainland Korea, it is the setting of many Korean dramas

11. K-pop– K-pop is a wonderful dimension, realm, world (or whatever you want to call it) that you’ll never really understand unless you experience what it is like. With that, I’d just like to share a picture I found.

12. Luhan– Salute to a 23-year-old who looks like he’s only 19.

13. Musicals and Broadway– The hills are alive with the sound of music.

14. Nickelodeon– Aside from Disney Channel, I grew up watching shows on Nick.

15. Oh Sehun– When did poker face become this handsome?

16. Pepito Manaloto– Funny and hilarious but very informative at the same time.

17. Quail Eggs– Yum!

18. Reading– It’s my life. As simple as that.

19. My Stuffed Toys– I’d literally die if I don’t have them. I am actually thinking of growing old with them.

20. Twitter– Express yourself in 140 characters or less and you’re gonna be fine.

21. Umbrella
– The umbrella I have just got broken, and I need one now. Badly.

22. Volleyball
– My one, true sport.

23. Wolf– The first song on XOXO, the first and latest album of EXO

24. XOXO– It’s got some really cool songs in it.

25. Yahoo!– I wouldn’t survive on the Internet if it weren’t for my Yahoo! mail.

26. Zen Garden– I don’t know with you, but I find happiness in simple things, even in the cute plants (especially the marigold) from the Zen Garden of Plants vs Zombies.

I find myself watching iBilib, a show aired by GMA Network every Sunday on 5 PM. Aside from the fact that it is hosted by former Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) basketball player Chris Tiu, I watch it because of the scientific information it imparts to its viewers. Moreover, the concepts in the show are presented in such a way that everyone will understand their ideas. There is even no use of jargons! Or if they do, they give the definition of the terms used.

They conduct simple experiments with the use of everyday objects we have and afterwards, explain the principles behind the phenomena in the experiments.

This is a must-watch not only for students but also for the entire family. There is indeed much to learn from this educational program. A salute to GMA on this project!

I believe that every day of our lives we are given the opportunity to choose for ourselves whether or not we are aware of these opportunities. Every single day we stay on earth, we make numerous decisions not only for others but also for ourselves. To walk or not to walk? To go to school/work or not to go? To eat or not to eat? To do our homework or not to do it? To breathe or not to breathe? To continue living or to take my life away?

We may not know it at the time, but we all have choices. I had my choices, and I chose to preserve what God gave me even before I had any concept about what the world really is and the danger the world entails.

I chose to preserve my life.

I had many reasons to take my life away, most of them silly ones, but if you were in my place, the last thing on your mind would be to gauge whether those reasons make any sense at all.

When I was young, I detested the thought of suicide and loathed the idea of suicidal tendencies. I asked myself often, “How come these people even think about it? What on earth brought them to such perspective?” Life, for me then, was beautiful and precious.

However, as I grew up, I realized that life is indeed a fight, a battle, a war. In one word, life is hard. Sometimes, it is hard to see the true beauty in life when all you see is the ugliness in it: selfishness, greed, anger, pride, jealousy, and the likes. I was extremely weighed down by the troubles I experience that I forgot to see that there is sense in all of this, that one day I will reap the fruit of my hard work.

You would not realize how important something is to you unless you lose it. In my case, I did not completely lose my life. I only lost the will to live, which means the same to me. How can you continue living when you do not have the will to live?

I have to admit that until now, part of being suicidal remains in me. I had two or three suicide attempts, and I promise that suicide – or the attempt itself – is not good. But now that I see what marvelous things life holds for me, I gripped harder on the vehicles that keep me on the track of life: hope, patience, trust, and love. I am not perfect, and I am working towards improving myself with the help of the people around me.

I made my decision. I made my achievement. It is time you make yours. To preserve your life or to take it away?

The Testimony of Yuki Sakura MitsumineQuestioned by a High Police Commissioner

I’m afraid to say so, sir. Yesterday afternoon, I was traveling the road to Yamashina. I was busy looking at a horse grazing by the roadside with his long rein dangling when I heard a woman shriek. I saw her run away from a grove in a hollow in the mountains and scream like a real mad person would have done. Then, she ran away, opposite to where I was heading to, and I caught a glimpse of her face. From what I saw she had a small, oval, brown-skinned face and a mole at the corner of her left eye. She turned left at the first corner and disappeared into the trees. Then, I saw a man come out from the same grove that the odd woman came from. He wore a dark blue silk kimono and had a large, plain sword. He also brought with him a bow wound with leather strips, a black lacquered quiver, and in the quiver were about twenty peculiar arrows. Apparently, he must’ve come to go after the woman. He looked from left to right, but I kept my lips sealed about what I’ve witnessed. I was frightened about what he might do to me if I say something because by his looks, he seemed to be a notorious criminal, a fugitive. He went the opposite way the woman did, the way headed for Yamashina. I did not try to stop him; I did not even tell him that he must go the other way around if he seeks to find the woman.

Suddenly I felt like my curiosity was taking control of me. When the man had gone far enough, I looked around and observed my surroundings. No one, not even a single person was in sight. How could this place be desolated? After several minutes of hitting my head spent with mumbling, I have decided that I will once and for all go inside that grove and let my curiosity win me over.

I was about to go inside when I realized that the horse was just a few feet away from the entrance to the grove. Could this be the horse of the woman or of the fugitive? I am not certain about that. Since I figured that whoever owned the horse was not so important, I just decided to not mind what I saw and go on with that I had in mind.

I reminded myself that if I wanted to live I have to be cautious about every move I make. There could be a possibility that someone set up a trap for me or for somebody else. I have no idea, not even the faintest one, about what happened inside this grove or even what might be happening inside. I planned to hide behind the bamboo-blades, and it turns out my idea paid off. I felt goose bumps all over my body when I saw a man who seemed like he has not much life left to live and has trouble breathing. He was panting heavily, and raised his exhausted body with great difficulty. I watched him do all this in great silence. Then, he searched the grove, looking for something. I saw his eyes grow bigger when he caught sight of something which I couldn’t see perfectly. I noticed that he held something glinting in his hands. And he thrust it into his breast. I was flabbergasted! That thing he got was a small sword! How stupid of me! Such disgrace on my part to let someone die. I immediately ran to the man’s side, and a bloody lump rose to his mouth. I had to cover my mouth with my hand to stop myself from screaming. As I gulped down my sobs, I softly drew the small sword out of the man’s chest. I tried to see what I could do to revive him, but I found out that there wasn’t anything I could do to help this man live. He had killed himself.

I stood up and told myself that if I intended to preserve my name, my honor, my dignity, I will have to leave this man, go away, and continue living my life as if nothing happened. I gazed at the blood-stained dagger in my hand and enclosed it in the dead man’s hand. If others saw me with that thing, I would have to take the blame for this man’s death and take the punishment although I’m completely innocent.

I did nothing to cause him this agony. Please forgive me for what I’ve done. The memory of this tragic incident has been haunting me, and there’s nothing I could do to prevent it from doing so. I am humbly begging forgiveness from the great Kwannon. I may have not helped the man live, but it is not, most certainly not, I who killed him. Please believe me! I am telling the truth!

The fourth State of the Nation Address (SONA) of President Benigno “Noynoy” C Aquino III may be his longest, spanning one hour and 45 minutes, but I believe that there is much more that the President could have said in his speech. I am not particularly dwelling on the low points of his fourth SONA. There is also much that I am glad about, especially with the government’s achievements over the last year: approval of Sin Tax Reform Law, increased number of TESDA graduates, allocation of P 6.2 billion for flood control in Metro Manila, increase in PhilHealth enrollees, and a 7.8% increase in the GDP of the country during the first quarter of 2013, the highest in Southeast Asia. This only proves that the current administration is indeed doing its job to improve the country in various aspects.

However, there will always be low points in the SONA of the president. I agree with what Sen. Nancy Binay pointed out: that P-Noy did not mention ways to improve employment in the country, since the Philippines still has the worst unemployment rate in Asia. I also agree with the opinion of the UP-NCPAG: that P-Noy did not address the issue of the pork barrel scam, which made a lot of noise recently. If he is to lead us to “daang matuwid” (as he said during his campaign in 2010) until 2016, he should have addressed this particular issue or include solid plans on how to fight corruption in the country.

After this address, it is further impressed on me that it is important to know that massive changes cannot happen in a short span of time and that patience and cooperation on the part of the citizens of our country are essential. I remain optimistic regarding the changes brought about by P-Noy’s governance and believe that this is a stepping stone for the Philippines’ future leaders.

Every person – regardless of his/her physical attributes, mental capacities, socioeconomic status, or religious principles – is entitled to his/her opinion. What do I have to say about this? What is my reaction on this? What do I think about this? There is a universe of questions that we have concerning our stand regarding something.

I want this to be my first post primarily because this is why I created this blog – because I want to express my point-of-view on the things around me. I want this blog to serve as an outlet for me to express what I cannot by oral means.

Our world is a discriminating one. Some individuals tend to think that their beliefs are superior over others’ and that their stand concerning a particular issue/topic is what the people around them should also adhere to.

No two people are exactly the same. This is a universal truth. Given that we have different circumstances in life and that we are exposed to different environments as well, there will be always something unique about us, something that sets us apart. Something that identifies our set of principles as ours and not anybody else’s.

All men are created equal in the eyes of God. We all have the free will and the right to freedom of expressing ourself. However, every right comes with a responsibility. No matter how much our opinion matters to us and no matter how much we want others to believe in them too, we must learn to respect the principles our fellow men, who are human beings like us, live by.

Respecting other’s opinions, on the contrary, does not mean having to believe in them as well. All we have to do is understand that we are all entitled to our opinion but it is up to us whether or not to conform to these principles in our day-to-day living.